Vegeta (ベジータ, Bejīta) is a character from the Dragon Ball franchise. Not intending Vegeta to be a major character, Toriyama introduced Vegeta in the series as very short and slightly stocky, with upright standing hair and a defined widow's peak. Upon his introduction, Vegeta is seen to be arrogant and sadistic, which was intended to contrast Goku's selflessness and kindness. Due to the manga's success after introducing Vegeta, Toriyama continued with Vegeta as a primary character, and changed his appearance; gradually making him more akin to an antihero as opposed to a villain.

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Character description

Vegeta's initial appearance in the manga is as a short and stocky character, with upright standing hair and a defined widow's peak. When compared to the main character Goku, Vegeta is noticeably shorter. As the series continued, Vegeta became more lean and average looking. In the anime adaptation's spin off called Dragon Ball GT, Vegeta's appearance goes through a drastic change, more so than any other previous time. Vegeta is seen to completely abandon his Saiyan style attire, and dress in an Earth dress reminiscent of real life Western cultures and he also appears to be more muscular.

When he's first introduced in the series, Vegeta has a tail, which he loses in his initial battle on Earth with Goku and his allies. Over the course of the series, he has worn several variations of the Saiyan suit, but began abandoning the armor after the fight against Cell, even though his gloves and boots still reflect his Saiyan roots throughout the end of the written series. When Vegeta is introduced in the series, he is seen to be sadistic, murdering his long time comrade Nappa, seeing the latter's inability to defeat Goku as an unforgivable weakness. During this time, Vegeta is seen to have a fierce desire for immortality and galactic rule, a facet of his bitter resentment over his long-term employer, Frieza. Vegeta's personality changes from a sadistic killer to a vengeful anti-hero, obsessed with becoming stronger than Goku. After a long time, Vegeta begins a relationship with Goku's close friend named Bulma, after which she bears him a son named Trunks and later on a daughter named Bulla. As a result of his love for Bulma and the birth of his son, Vegeta soon simply becomes a bitter rival of Goku's, and thinks of Earth as a good place to settle down and live. As a result of this change he sees within himself, Vegeta attempts to return to his old sadistic self by allowing Babadi to control him by using the evil in his his heart to defeat Goku and regain because he was defeated on Earth, but the devotion that he feels towards his family soon overcomes the evil within him, and he becomes Goku's closest ally, and even a good friend. Vegeta's personality is primarily based on his rivalry with Goku, and how Goku was able to change him over the course of time, despite his obsession with surpassing Goku in power. Vegeta has a deathly fear of worms and insects as shown in Dragon Ball Z episode 258: "The Innards of Majin Buu".

In the Super Smash Flash series

In Super Smash Flash 2

Vegeta was originally meant to be the second Dragon Ball representation after Goku himself in Super Smash Flash 2. As of version 0.7 of the demo, he was confirmed to no longer appear as a playable character. His only appearance is as a background character on Planet Namek, along with Trunks, Gohan, and Piccolo.